Sweden's Axis Communications leads the
way in reducing the size of surveillance cameras as it launches the smallest
wireless megapixel surveillance camera in the world, with a size of about
85x55x40 mm, excluding the antenna. The Axis 207MW is the latest camera
introduced by Axis and as expected the camera offers a lot of features too.
The Axis 207MW captures images at a resolution of 1280x1024 (1.3
megapixels) pixels through its 1/3' CMOS sensor. Its large size sensor allows
recording of video images with an ambient light level of only 2 lux. The
recorded video images can be streamed simultaneously in the Motion JPEG format
and MPEG-4 format at an adjustable frame rate of up to 12 frames per second when
maxed out at its maximum resolution (1280x1024 pixels).
The images can
then be viewed either using the Axis Media Control plug-in, available for
Microsoft Windows only (ActiveX), or using a standard browser. The camera
supports uPnP and ¡°Bonjour¡± and therefore is automatically detected in the ¡°My
Network Places¡± or the in the Safari web browser (or any other ¡°Bonjour¡±
software that supports this protocol) on the Microsoft Windows (ME or XP
version) or Macintosh OS X platform respectively. Using the Axis Media Control
software, the video images can be visualized in the MPEG-4 or Motion-JPEG
format.
Any other browser will be limited to the use of Motion-JPEG video
images using a Java applet. Luckily the MPEG-4 video images are still available
using Apple's QuickTime, which is available for Mac OS and Windows. Still images
can also be displayed, but need to be refreshed manually in the browser.
Handy to know is also that the camera is also compatible with PDA's or
cellular phones using 3GPP. In order to do so, the image size should be reduced
to 176x144 pixels and the bit rate to 128 kbit/s.
The configuration of the camera also
requires the Axis Media Control plug in and therefore is reserved for Microsoft
Windows users with administrator rights, required for installing the activeX
plug in. As a consequence Mac OS and Linux users can't access the configuration
screen, which is a pity. Axis should have incorporated a standard web server
into the camera. It is also important to mention that the camera comes with one
single Axis Media Control license. Additional licenses are available at Axis
Communications.
Before describing the configuration
options, let us take a look at some other features. The camera features a 100
Mbps Ethernet connector, but also has IEEE 802.11b/g wireless interface (max. 54
Mbps) and can therefore very easily be integrated in almost any local area
network. The access to the wireless stream can by protected using the standard
WEP (64/128 bit), WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK protocols. The camera further also
supports IP address filtering and encrypted browsing using HTTPS for additional
security. A maximum of 10 users can simultaneously access the video images. If
you manage a large network it is also worthwhile to mention that the camera
supports SNMP (Simple Network Management protocol).
The Axis 207 camera supports NAT
traversal, which comes in handy if several machines on the LAN use the same
Internet connection. If your Internet provider only offered you a dynamic IP
address, you can use the Axis Internet dynamic DNS service and still access your
camera from anywhere in the world. In combination with the supported DHCP
protocol, several cameras may be installed using a single Internet connection.
The camera itself has a fixed iris and comes with a lens of 3.6mm with
an aperture of F 1.8, which provides an angle of view of 85 degrees. The
resolution can be set at 15 different levels from 160x90 all the way up to the
maximum resolution of 1280x1024 pixels, the compression level and the white
balance for the video images can be adjusted. The images of the camera can be
automatically rotated and a text, date and/or time may be superposed on the
images.
The Axis 207MW camera's built in microphone provides a MPEG-4, ISMA, 3GPP compatible one-way audio stream, which can be fine-tuned in the
settings. The audio level at the monitored location can also trigger the camera
when the level falls below or rises above a specified threshold.
The Axis 207MW camera can also be
triggered when motion is detected in a predefined area or outside of a
predefined area, which is above a specified threshold level. The camera also has
an additional I/0 connector, allowing the triggering of the camera when an alarm
event is triggered. The camera can also trigger an alarm upon the occurrence of
an event. The camera also has an SMTP client and can send an email to a user
upon the detection of an event, eventually including a picture or a video
sequence.
(all
illustrations: http://www.axis.com )
The
Axis 207MW camera is already available on the market for a retail price of about
380 Euro. This is not expensive at all. We would however have appreciated if
Axis Communications would allow multiple licenses and not limit the ability to
configure the cameras to Microsoft Windows compatible computers. Another aspect
that we would like to see improved, is the finish ! This camera looks more as a
cheap toy for kids than a surveillance camera. Other than that the camera looks
very attractive to us.
If you would like to have more
information about the Axis Communications products:
http://www.axis.com
